


5 Times Dex Surprised Nursey and 1 Time He Didn't

by cooliopio



Series: Not-Repressed Dex! [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Canon-typical swearing, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Piercings, Pining, Recreational Drug Use, Tattoos, dex knows irish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:01:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21852610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cooliopio/pseuds/cooliopio
Summary: Listen. Dex didn’t grow up repressed. Just because he grew up in butt-fuck nowhere in Maine doesn’t mean he’s stuck in the 1960s, women wearing knee-length gowns and men being the breadwinners. Sure, it’s a small town with a peculiar culture, but it’s still 2016 back there too.Of course, when the guys come to realize that he’s not who they made him up in their minds to be, they lose their shit.
Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter
Series: Not-Repressed Dex! [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1576240
Comments: 20
Kudos: 434





	5 Times Dex Surprised Nursey and 1 Time He Didn't

**Author's Note:**

> thank's for clicking! hope you enjoy!  
> Dex is my favorite and I love him.  
> this is my first check please fic! aaa

Listen. Dex didn’t grow up repressed. Just because he grew up in butt-fuck nowhere in Maine doesn’t mean he’s stuck in the 1960s, women wearing knee-length gowns and men being the breadwinners. Sure, it’s a small town with a peculiar culture, but it’s still 2016 back there too. He’s gay for christs sake, he went to senior prom with his boyfriend at the time, and no one paid much attention. 

Which is why is pisses him off so much that the guys think that he’s some intolerant republican asshole.

Of course, when the guys come to realize that he’s not who they made him up in their minds to be, they lose their shit. 

1.

It all starts off with his tattoo. It’s in an easily hideable place, right on his heart. Dex hasn’t always been the most confident in his body, so the habit of changing pretty fast in locker rooms formed over many years of self-conscious middle school hockey playing-- and he never really bothered to break the habit. 

It’s not like he was hiding his tattoo, it’s not a secret, he’s had it since he was 15. It’s just irrelevant to him now. 

His tattoo finally gets “revealed” after a normal Wednesday morning practice. Ransom and Holster came bolstering into the locker room after their showers, towels wrapped around their waists, and discussing the social stigmas around tattoos.

“Bro! I’m just saying, tattoos are mad cool, but you can’t deny that some workplaces look down upon them!” Ransom reasons.

Holster grunts a little, signaling his indignance. “But brah, you’re saying that tattoos are trashy and unprofessional! I don’t--”

“Yo, hold up!” Nursey, resident tattooed team member, interrupts, “why are you guys arguing about tattoos at 7am on a Wednesday like I’m not right here?” he questioned, gesturing to his armband tattoo. 

“I was telling Ransom how I thought a tattoo sleeve would look dope as fuck, but we’ve got that consulting job lined up after graduation, so he was trying to talk me out of it in the name of ‘professionalism’” Holster explains. 

Nursey hums a tune of understanding. “Yeah, I get that. But it’s boston, as long as your boss isn’t a conservative asshole you’d be fine.” Nursey turns to Dex with a smug look on his face, “Right, Dex?” he chirps. 

Dex turns his head from his stall to look at Nursey, confusion written on his face. “Nursey, what are you talking about?”

“Oh nothing,” Nursey shrugs, “just that you’re the type of person to think that tattoos are bad decisions because they’re ‘too permanent’ or whatever conservative bullshit you believe.” Nursey shrugs, his chill facade enrobing his face. 

Dex’s confusion intensifies, “Dude, you know I have a tattoo, right?”

“What?” Nursey deadpans. 

“Yeah. I got it back in Maine. You really didn’t know?

“Dude, how was I supposed to know you had a tattoo?! Rule number one of locker rooms is ‘don't look at the others.’” 

Holster barks a laugh, “Hold up! You’re telling me that you have a tattoo?! Man Nursey, you seriously misjudged that one!”

Nursey sighs and waves Holster off, returning to Dex. “So what is it?”

“An anchor, it’s above my heart.” Dex shrugs. 

A devious smirk creeps up on Nursey’s face. “An anchor? Oh man-- you really are a fisherman! Too dedicated to the craft had to declare your love to the lobsters with a tattoo on the heart!” he chirps.

Dex blushes involuntarily, “I mean. Kind of, but not really? I started working the boats when I was fifteen. It's rough waters out there sometimes in the part of Maine where I’m from, so all the crews from different boats have to get matching tattoos incase we go overboard and drown. If found, they know where to return the body.” he shrugs, continuing to tie his sneakers. 

Ransom lets out a low whistle. “Bro. That’s kind of badass. Scary as fuck, but badass.” 

Dex huffs. “Yeah. Had to pay for hockey equipment somehow, y’know?”

“Can’t say I do, Dex” Ransom laughs. 

“Yeah, well--” Dex trails off, shaking his head, returning to redressing. 

Nursey turns back to his own stall and fiddles with his own clothing, faced with the realization that Dex has a totally badass tattoo for a totally badass reason, and that’s so cool. 

_Shit._




Next, it’s the godawful weed that holster dared to bring into the haus. 

Dex walked in after receiving a text from Bitty that there was fresh pie, first come first serve. But as he walked in, he was hit with the stench of shitty, shitty weed. Smelled like straight up gasoline and skunk. 

He scrunched his face in disgust as he walked deeper into the haus, turning into the kitchen, the scent of pie masking the smell of someone’s mistake.

Bitty turned around, facing Dex. “Oh hey! I’ve got french silk pie, with it being February and all, most fruits are out of season.”

“That’s fine. Thanks Bitty.” Dex muttered, dishing out a piece before turning back out into the living room. 

“Who did it.” Dex bellows, looking at the group of moderately high hockey team members. 

Ransom, Holster, Nursey, Chowder, Ollie, and Wicks look back at him. The group collectively looks at a slightly nervous Holster. 

“Look, man” Holster drawls. “I’m sorry for bringing it into the Haus, we all had a rough day and it’s cold as shit in the reading room.” 

Nursey continues, “Don’t be a dick about it though, alright? If you don’t like weed you can just leave, mister white guy.”

Dex barks out a laugh. “Nah, I don’t give a shit about the weed. Y’all just brought in some shitty weed.”

Ransom looks at him, confused. “Bro, how would you know?”

Dex quirks an eyebrow. “You guys really don’t know anything about me, do you? I was a massive stoner in highschool.”

“Bro!” Holster laughs, clapping Dex on the back. “That’s the spirit!”

“That’s not getting you out of this mess, Holster, you brought this straight up gasoline-smelling garbage into the haus.”

Holster shrugs. “It’s the same shit that shitty used to get for kegsters.”

“Yeah. Kegsters. Not his personal stash of good shit, this was just cheap.” Dex sighs, sitting down on the floor next to Chowder. He shrugs his bag off of his shoulders and starts digging. He makes a noise of affirmation once he finds what he’s looking for. “Look, I keep my good shit in my truck, so I can hotbox it. So I don’t have that for you. But I will literally kill you all if you keep hitting that shitty blunt and making the haus stink.” 

“Well then what do you want us to--” Nursey starts.

“Let me finish!” Dex snaps. “Just use my pen. It’s pretty strong and won’t make the haus smell like ass. Leave the haus smells to Bitty.” Dex sighs, pulling the pen to his mouth, taking a long drag out of the tip, closing his eyes as he takes it away from his mouth. He inhales again, holding the vape in for a few seconds before exhaling and passing the pen to Chowder. 

Dex leans his head back on the couch, letting the feeling start to engulf him. He’s not high by any means, he’s got too high of a tolerance for one hit to get him there, but it’s a start. 

Nursey looks at Dex with an air of curiosity. Last year, he never would have thought dex, from small town conservative Maine, would be a weed connoisseur. He looks at Dex’s face, calm from the THC, vibing with the room. A familiar and practiced attitude. He looks… pretty? Nursey huffs at this thought, blaming it on the weed.

Nursey tries not to think about the fact that Dex's lips had touched the cart as Dex’s pen reaches him.




Look, Dex hates Gen-Eds as much as the next guy. But he particularly hates his English Gen-ed. He can’t remember the grammar functions, the stupid comma rules, and the thesaurus has become his best friend when his TA preaches that he doesn’t have compelling and specific vocabulary. It’s why he’s a comp-sci major. No english. 

Dex, Nursey, and Chowder were at the library, way past midnight, the week before midterms, stressing and studying. Chowder was completing his coding project, Nursey tinkering on a poem, and Dex was begrudgingly slaving away at his essay for ENG101. 

They occupied a small corner of the fourth floor, in a small alcove surrounded by windows. The clacking of their keyboards and sound of pen on paper was all the noise around them; mind the constant muttering Dex. 

Nursey set his pen down a little too hard and snapped his head up to look at Dex. “Can you quit it?!” he seethed. 

“Quit what?” Dex questioned. 

“Your muttering! It’s so distracting!”

“No.” Dex deadpanned. 

Nursey huffed, “God! You’re such an asshole sometimes, y’know? We’re trying to get our work done and you’re just muttering fucking gibberish! I can’t fucking--”

“Guys!” Chowder whined, looking between his two best friends. “Can you both calm down?”

“Yeah Nurse, _Chill._ ” Dex smirked. 

Chowder glared at Dex, shutting down his antagonizing. “It’s nearly 1am. I’d like to finish this project in peace. Dex, either stop muttering, or, Nursey, just ignore it.”  
  
“I don’t see what’s so hard about not just muttering.” Nursey bristled. 

Dex twiddled with his fingers, “Well, I really can’t stop.”

“And why not?!” Nursey pleaded. 

Dex looked down, shyly. “I can’t translate in my head that quickly for this English assignment.”

Nursey looked blankly back at Dex. “Huh? Why would you be translating for english? Don’t you speak it?”

Dex rolled his eyes. “Well obviously, but it’s not my first language. It’s hard sometimes to write papers in english.”

“What do you mean it’s not your first language?” Nursey prodded, leaning forward on his elbows, encroaching on Dex’s table space. 

Dex scoffs. “God, do I have to spell everything out for you? English isn’t my first language. It’s Gaelic-- or, I guess, Irish. My mom and dad immigrated here right before I was born. Ireland is majority English speaking, but they were from some part in the country that only spoke Gaelic? I'm not entirely sure, I haven’t asked. They don’t like to talk about their time in Ireland. I grew up speaking Gaelic.” 

“Say something” Nursey demanded, surprised and disbelieving.

“What?”

“Say something in Irish.”

Dex sighs, as usual, before looking at Nursey and saying “Tá tú go hálainn.” 

“What does that mean?”

Dex smirks. “Guess you’ll never know.” 

Nursey squawks a noise of dissatisfaction. “It’s probably something mean!” 

Chowder giggles, “I wouldn’t expect anything less. Now get back to work, I’m supposed to meet Cait for breakfast tomorrow!” 

Nursey picks up his pen and looks back down at his poem, easily letting Dex’s gaelic muttering fade into the background. 

Later that night, if Nursey blushes when he looks up the translation of what Dex said… well, that’s his own business. 




It’s early March, and the Team had just clinched their playoff bid. Ransom and Holster decided, per tradition, to throw a _swawesome_ kegster. With good weed, even-- courtesy of Dex. 

Dex wasn’t on nursey patrol tonight, tango was, so Dex decided to actually try and find someone to wheel. To give it his best shot, and get back in the habit of caring for his piercings, he put in his jewelry.

Dex got his tragus, daith, septum and lip pierced over the course of the year when he was 16. He was going through his punk-scene phase, and his parents eventually relented. Now, he had to leave them out most of the time because, well, hockey is a physical sport. Don’t want to risk getting it torn out from it getting caught on something, or someone. 

He figured that now was as good a night as any to look cool, so he popped them all in and headed to thee haus. 

By the time he arrived, the party was well underway. 

He walked in the haus, picking up a cup of tub juice from Wicks as he passed the porch, and headed towards the make-shift dance floor. He looked around him and saw Lardo destroying some Lax bros ego’s at beer pong, Chowder and Cait dancing way too close, and Nursey on a table with Tango close by. The usual kegster antics. 

Dex let himself be pulled into the crowd, ending up by a soccer player named Sam. They talked about how they were both defensemen, despite being different sports, and chatted each other up. Dex was close to leaving with Sam back to his dorm before Nursey spotted him from across the room. 

“DEX!” Nursey slurred from across the room, a bright smile across his face, trapezing towards Dex until he crashed into his side. 

Dex grunted with the impact, wrapping his arms around Nursey’s shoulders to support him. 

“Dex!” Nursey said, turning towards him, the smell of alcohol on his breath, “How’re ya, man! You’re not on duty tonight, you living it up!” Nursey slurred. 

Dex looked Nursey in the eyes, suddenly aware of how close they were, leaning into the moment. “Yeah,” he sighed, “it’s not so bad to have to look after your dumbass.”

“Woah!” Nursey exclaimed, “you’ve got-- you’ve got holes in your face!” he continued, reaching a hand up to Dex’s nose to poke the septum piercing. 

Dex, feeling loose from the alcohol in his system, let out a small, fond laugh, and grabbed Nursey’s hand. “Yeah! I’ve had them since I was 16. Scene phase and all that.”

Nursey sputtered, “You! A scene phase! I didn’t think you’d have it in you, mister conservative.”

“Oh please,” Dex sighed, “I’m no-” Dex was interrupted by a cough from Sam. 

“Well,” Sam started, “looks like you won’t be needing me tonight,” they said, looking between Dex and Nursey knowingly. 

“Oh!” Dex startled. “We can still--”

Sam let out an amused laugh. “Nah, seems like you’ve got your mind elsewhere. Have fun.” They winked at Defore turning away to find someone else, presumably. 

“Who was that?” Nursey inquired, eyes wide. 

Dex shrugged. “No one.”

“Y’know, Poindexter,” Nursey started, looking at Dex, eyes half lidded, lips parted, “the piercings are kinda hot.”

“Yeah, I know.” Dex laughed, examining Nursey’s face and leading him back into the party as well.

If they got a little too handsy when they had a few more drinks in them, well, that’s between them.




The team was on their last regular season roadie before the playoffs began, and the game just happened to be pretty close to Dex’s hometown in Maine. Dex paid little mid to that fact-- it was nice that his family would be able to come down to see him play, but it’s not like he’s particularly itching to squeak in a visit home while he’s in the area.

The game was clean, Samwell winning 3-1. Chowder got some highlight worthy saves, Whiskey scored two goals, and mostly everyone came out completely uninjured. 

The atmosphere in the visitor locker room was, in Nursey’s words, “chill.” Everyone was coming off the adrenaline of a win, light chirps crossing the room as Bitty’s post-game Beyonce playlist was playing in the background.

Dex was occupied taking off his gear when there was a knock at the door followed by someone entering-- they were about average height, about 5’10, skinny with blonde hair, and gave off the stereotypical impression that he was gay.

“Is Liam in here?” the boy asked, “your-- um, coaches, told me he was here.”

“Who’s Liam?” Nursey questioned, directed to no one in particular.

Dex’s head snapped up, eyes wide in disbelief, “Lucas?” he breathed. 

“Liam!” the boy, Lucas, evidently, exclaimed in excitement, bounding over to Dex, hugging him. 

Dex wrapped his arms around Lucas, burying his head in his hair. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in California?”

“Yeah, well, had to come back after Pa passed, mom needed help back at the diner. Anything for family, right?” Lucas explained, dragging a hand through his blonde curls, sighing. 

Dex hummed. “Yeah you know I know that more than anyone.” 

Lucas’ eyes flickered to the ground. “Yeah.” there was a pregnant pause between the two of them, as Dex evaluated Lucas. 

“You never answered my question” Dex prodded, “What are you doing _here?_ ” 

Lucas’ eyes popped back to Dex’s. “Ah, your mom mentioned that she was coming down with your family to catch the game and asked if I wanted to come. Couldn't say no” Lucas winked, bumping his hip into Dex’s. 

Dex let out a small laugh. “Yeah, okay. Let me shower and get changed. I’ll meet you in the tunnel? We can go somewhere and catch up” he smirked. 

Lucas hummed an agreement before pinching Dex’s ass, much to his chagrin, and heading out to the tunnel. 

Once the door shut behind Lucas, the team stared at him in disbelief. 

“Bro.” Nursey started, after the tension in the room got too thick. “Who the _fuck_ was that.”

“Lucas?” Dex answered, as if it was obvious. 

“But what was with all the sexual tension?” Tango prodded, earning a “Tango! You can’t just ask people about their sexual tension!” from Chowder.

Dex laughed before crossing his arms and answering, “probably because we both want to fuck eachother?” Earning a chorus of wolf whistles and “oohs!” from the rest of the team as Dex grew increasingly red. 

Nursey stared at Dex in disbelief. “But… aren't you straight?”

Dex gave Nursey an unimpressed stare. “No? Not at all.”

“Since when?!”

“Since I declared Jim Henson the love of my life in kindergarten.” He replied easily. 

Nursey sat back in his stall, processing this information. “Then who was _that?_ ” 

“Lucas Petterson. We went to the senior prom together, and were best friends with benefits.” Dex nodded. 

“So... you’re dating?” Nursey asked, not quite trusting his voice. 

Dex sputtered. “Oh, god no. We tried it, once. But we really do not hold any romantic feelings for eachother. We were a mess together. So awkward. We both decided that being friends was better for the both of us” Dex concluded with a shrug. 

“Bro. Mad respect” Holster nodded. 

“Word, bro” Ransom agreed. “Thank you for trusting us with this moment.”

Dex shook his head, “Guys, I’ve always been out. I’ve literally wheeled so many guys this semester. You guys are just so oblivious.” Dex shed the rest of his gear and headed for the showers. 

After Dex took his shower and the door closed behind him as he headed to the tunnel, Nursey groaned.

“You are so fucked.” Chowder chided, bumping shoulders with Nursey. 

“I know!” Nursey groaned. “I know! I have no reason to be this jealous.

“So fucked!” Chowder laughed. 

“So fucked” Nursey agreed, heels of his palms firmly in his eyes. 

+1

Nursey and Dex returned to their hotel room after a disappointing first round of the ECAC playoffs. Samwell lost 2-3 in overtime, no thanks to a nasty wraparound shot from the opponents. 

Nursey flopped on the bed closest to the window, groaning into his pillow. Dex gently sat down next to him, setting his hand on Nursey’s back and beginning to rub soft circles. 

“I’m mad.” Nursey began, voice muffled from the pillows. “And sad. Like, I should have been there-- I’m not supposed to let shit like that get to Chowder.” 

Dex let out a low hum. “We’re a team, Derek. It’s not your fault.”

Nursey looked up to Dex at the use of his first name, eyes glassy. “You mean that?”

Dex sunk down in the bed, level with Nursey, faces inches apart as they laid on their stomachs. “I mean it.”

Nursey pushed up onto his side, and Dex mirrored him, their legs tangled together. 

“You can’t put it all on you. I wasn’t there either.” Dex gently spoke. 

Nursey’s eyes flicked from Dex’s eyes to his lips, back to his eyes. Nursey hummed in contentment, bringing his hand up to Dex’s jaw. 

“We’ll always be there for eachother, right?” Nursey questioned.

“Of course” Dex replied, closing the gap between them a little. 

“What if I’m wrong?” Nursey challenged, eyes focused on Dex’s lips. 

“You’re not” Dex replied, impossibly soft, bringing their lips together.

Nursey had been surprised by Dex a lot this semester-- he wasn’t the conservative asshole he built Dex to be in his head. He had every right to be surprised right now… but he wasn’t. Kissing Dex, lips chapped yet soft, assertive yet malleable, felt natural. 

Nursey had been surprised by Dex a lot this semester-- and he was excited to be surprised in the future. 

With Dex. 

With Liam.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Give it a kudos if you liked it!
> 
> this work was un-beta'd, so if there are any errors, PLEASE let me know!
> 
> Come talk to me at unfairlawyer.tumblr.com !


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